Susanne Kremeier Blog

Susanne Kremeier

Profi für erfolgsbringende Organisationsgestaltung

GloCalisation – magic demystified?

According to Wikipedia, “glocalisation” refers to the connection and coexistence of the multidimensional process of globalisation and its local or regional effects and contexts.

The term globalisation refers to the process of increasing worldwide interconnections in many areas (economy, politics, culture, environment, communication), between individuals, societies, institutions and states.

So one might assume that the merging of global and local combines the best of two worlds. But it is not that simple. [Read more…]

Bob Dylan already knew: “The times they are a-changin”.

In these weeks, many companies are busy preparing for the next year. Strategies are being rethought, plans are being made, budgets are being calculated.

Some companies are also putting their own business model to the test. The profound changes brought about by digitalisation and automation have left their mark, as has the pandemic. Many have already learned to embrace new things, have tried out a few things and have been successful.

This also applies to the new course set by the pandemic. For these, the question now is whether to keep the new or go back to the previous model. Here I would like to invite you to pause. Because times are changing and sometimes business models born out of necessity are actually the better solution in order to be well positioned for the future. [Read more…]

You are a brand to me…

Do you know this sentence: You are a brand to me! This expresses the fact that someone considers us particularly (or strangely) remarkable, as a person who is well and fondly remembered.

Brand-recognition

Of course, we also strive for this in business life. There are some companies that have created unique brands with high recognition value. The brand can be a name (Coca-Cola), a logo (Apple, Nike, Tesla), or a colour-jingle combination (Telekom). These brands have fans who are only satisfied with the product of their favourite brand. Other products even compare themselves with well-known brands to get some of the shine of the brand leader.

How are valuable brands created? [Read more…]

How company strategies affect competence profiles

Every company has a strategy, or at least an idea of what it wants to achieve. If the strategy is precisely defined and communicated, a basic concept of the required resources and competencies can be derived from it. Because, the right employees are actually valuable resources for the success of a company and its strategy – as underlined by the commonly-used term “human resources” . This makes it all the more important to draw up competence profiles prior to recruitment and staff appraisals that cover more than just formal qualifications and further training. After all, companies don’t buy just any machine or software, but one that best fits the requirements.

Example

Let’s take an example: Your strategy is to be a trendsetter in your field and you want to drive this forward through innovation. Then the question is where these innovations will come from. From your own research? From other companies from whom you buy ideas or patents? From young talents? In any case, the path you take will affect the competence profiles of the employees who accompany the process in the company. For example, you will need talented researchers if everything is to come from your own company. Or experienced lawyers and consultants to support you in purchasing innovative products and ideas. Or young people who speak the same language as their peers in start-ups or research projects.

So take enough time to define detailed competence profiles and rethink your organisational structures to make sure everything is consistent. This will enable you to be a leader in your market and not a follower.

If you would like me to define competence profiles and organisational structures for you – I’d be happy to do so!

The famous customer of the customer

Almost every sales training also includes a discussion about the fact that one should also understand how one’s own customers address and satisfy their customers. Often, this closest circle of customers has ideas and needs that one can influence oneself as a supplier. Now, in the age of digitalisation and disruption, this connection is even more important than ever before. If the customer of the customer focuses on the functionality and less on the product, suddenly completely different elements could be in demand. So it’s important to have your ear on the ground.

The best thing, of course, is to have such a good relationship with your customers that they involve you as a partner in the discussions with the next customers. Then you become part of the design and creation process. Not only can you then exert influence and ensure that your own offer is used; you can also hear very early on whether there are changing needs that require you to adapt your own offer. Like an early warning system, research and development as well as production optimization can be controlled in that way. Of course, this requires that the right topics are discussed in the sales pitch. And this requires that the salesperson is actually addressing the right topics. And this in turn requires the salesperson to be involved in internal meetings where such topics could be discussed.

Strategic involvement of the sales force

Is your organization designed like that? How close is your management to your customer’s customer? Are they perhaps already thinking about other concepts? For example, if you are in logistics, is the customer’s customer already thinking about drones? Or via mega stores outside the cities, with onward transport in small electric vehicles? Will they then possibly already be looking for trucks that are and can be much larger because they no longer have to travel to the cities? Or are you perhaps more interested in packaging? How does a product have to be packaged if it is transported with a drone? What influence does the ability to print the product that the customer’s customer needs in 3D have on your products? As you can see, with the multitude of possible options, the seller cannot ask too many questions. The more information the market collects, the better. Of course, you can get a lot of information in the form of finished analyses via the Internet. Nevertheless, the seller also has a role to play. How do you put him in a position to do so? That’s what I would like to show you!